March 20–23 in the Northern Hemisphere
September 20–23 in the Southern Hemisphere
The spring equinox is a good time to consider how we go about creating a balanced life. Yoga is a union, a marriage between complementary opposites that helps us find balance in our lives.
The Sun Is Rising in the Heavens
In ancient times the beginning of the year was reckoned from this moment, at the spring equinox, when the sun crossed the equator and began rising higher each day in the heavens.
The spring equinox is a solar festival celebrated when the length of day and night are equal. The word equinox comes from Latin and means “equal night.” In our yoga practice we can explore the equinox theme of balance by working with yoga’s balancing poses. We can also reflect on how best to balance our own sun (ha) and moon (tha) energies, both in our yoga practice and in our life. Yoga helps us reconcile opposing parts of our self, creating optimum conditions for healing to occur.
The spring equinox is the ignition key for the year, and from here the energy of the year really revs up. There is a short-lived period of fertile energy during the growing season as the days get longer and warmer between now and the summer solstice. In days gone by, Eostre, the earth goddess of fertility and new life, was honored at this time. Her name is the root of the word we give to the female hormone estrogen. The tradition of the Easter Bunny and the giving of chocolate eggs at Easter are all connected to the celebration of fertility at the equinox.
Whatever seeds are planted now will expand and grow. At this time we have an outward focus, and our face is turned toward the sun. This is a time for pushing rather than for yielding. We need to prioritize and use this short-lived, fertile sun energy to grow and make manifest the projects that are closest to our heart. Our actions will be more effective and successful if we have strategies in place. We look for opportunities to reach out to others, make connections, and collaborate with those people who will help us realize our dreams.
Our yoga practice can help us stay in touch with our inner wisdom as we take action in the world. In this way we can take wise actions that come from the heart. We can also use our yoga practice to stay balanced, centered, and grounded so that we are not swept away by the restless, frantic energy of the growing season.
Finding Balance at the Spring Equinox
The spring equinox is a good time to consider how we go about creating a balanced life. Our yoga practice teaches us to balance tension and relaxation. Our challenge is, how do we marry and unify these two complimentary opposites to achieve a state of balance in our lives?
In the opening words of the Yoga Sutras Patanjali defines yoga as the cessation of the turning of thoughts in the mind. Many of us are drawn to yoga initially hoping that it will help still our restless, agitated mind. With the changes and surge in energy that spring brings, some of us find our mind speeds up too, which can leave us feeling unbalanced, anxious, and overwhelmed. Later in this chapter you will find practices, such as the Calming Cloud Meditation, to help restore your equilibrium in the face of this onslaught of airy, adrenalized spring-time energy.
As yoga practitioners, we can learn the art of balance by observing the earth’s graceful seasonal transition in and out of balanced states at the equinoxes. At both equinoxes the earth is temporarily balanced between light and dark, night and day, before it tips either into the lighter or darker half of the year. At the autumn equinox the earth is in a balanced state before it tips into the dark, dormant (tamas) phase of the year when everything dies back. At the spring equinox there is balance before we tip into the light, active (rajas) growing season phase of the year. When we observe the seasonal changes, we see that there is a seasonal cycle of balance, activity, balance, and rest; and then the cycle begins again.
We may wrongly get the impression from the yoga media that yoga is about creating a stress-free, blissful life. Seductive images of the young and beautiful practicing yoga on sun-drenched, paradise island beaches might contrast sharply with our own sometimes messy and chaotic life. However, when we conceive of yoga as perfect peace that is only to be found on some faraway island, a profound mismatch develops between our life as it is in the here and now and our life as we would like it to be. On the one hand, this discrepancy may lead us to make changes in our life that make it more harmonious and peaceful. On the other hand, it may lead to a profound dissatisfaction and a sense that neither we nor our lives are quite good enough to match up to yoga’s ideals.
Our yoga practice can introduce an element of tension into our lives if we strive to be in a state of perpetual yogic relaxation. When we struggle to be our best yogic self at all times, a battle ensues between the so-called yogic and non-yogic parts of ourselves. In an attempt to create a bubble of yoga serenity, we push away all that threatens to burst that bubble. We stop listening to the news and avoid situations that bring up difficult feelings such as anxiety, and when “negative” emotions such as anger arise, we put a yogic half-smile on our face and attempt to keep calm and carry on!
How do we reconcile the inevitable tension that arises in life with our wish to be relaxed and calm? We can return to the example set for us by Earth on its annual journey around the sun, as it moves from equinox to solstice, solstice to equinox. We remind ourselves that Earth spins through a seasonal cycle of balance, activity, balance, and rest. Human beings were never designed to be perpetually calm or perpetually active. A healthy, fulfilling, and rewarding life will consist of action, activity, and stress; and this will be followed by downtime that allows us to de-stress and return to a neutral state, where healing can occur. To achieve anything in life and live according to our values, it is inevitable that we will have to endure periods of stress, uncertainty, and anxiety. This is Karma Yoga, the yoga of action.
In our yoga practice we can also use this template of balance, activity, balance, and rest. In our yoga asanas we achieve balance between effort (sthira) and relaxation (sukha). To stay strong and physically healthy, we must put a certain amount of stress upon our muscles and bones. However, too much stress and no relaxation and we risk damage from strain injuries. In a similar way, in our everyday lives we hope to achieve a healthy balance between relaxation and effort. To lead full and meaningful lives, we must be prepared to put up with a certain amount of stress as we take steps toward our goals. However, too much stress and no relaxation can result in burnout and stress-related illnesses, whereas too little stress and our lives risk becoming boring and unfulfilling.
One of the most precious gifts that yoga gives us is an ability to return to a neutral state. It is the state of balance between periods of activity. The practice of yoga enables us to drop down into a state where body and mind are at rest; this is a state of equanimity and equilibrium. It creates a space where the body and mind can realign and healing can occur. When you are in this place, the body and mind know what to do; the wisdom of body and mind flows freely like a river and the body can heal itself. Our yoga training shows us how we can get out of our own way and slip into this neutral state. Through our yoga practice, we can create the right conditions for this to happen, but it is not something that we can force: it is a state of grace.
Difficulties arise when we try to make permanent what is essentially a transitory state. Can any of us living in the world as it is maintain this yogic state of balance 24/7? Would we really want to? Yoga works best when it supports and enables us to live a rich, diverse, and fulfilling life. This will be a life filled with ups and downs, highs and lows, darkness and light, loss and gain, praise and blame, conflict and resolution of conflict. Yoga fails—or rather, we fail to use yoga skillfully—when we use it to escape or avoid life, when we try to create a bubble of serenity that exists in isolation from the wider world. Of course, naturally, sometimes we need time out from the fray of life, and our yoga and meditation practice can provide this. However, this is a temporary respite and then we must return to the fray. There is work to be done!
Cultivating Your Yoga Garden
Like a garden, your yoga practice needs to be tended and cultivated if it is to grow and blossom. Spring is a good time to put some time and thought into planning what you would like to grow in your yoga garden so that it will give you pleasure all year round. Which seeds will you plant, and how will you feed, nourish, and water them so that they grow healthy and strong?
Sometimes over the winter your yoga practice can get a bit stagnant. If the problem is that you are still a bit sluggish after a long winter and not motivated to get onto your yoga mat, then try “rolling with resistance.” Instead of arguing with yourself about why you should practice yoga, ask yourself, “What are the benefits to me of not practicing yoga?” Listen compassionately and non-judgmentally to the answers you come up with to this question, as they may well shed light on ways to get your yoga practice kick-started.
Here are some other questions that will help you to get your yoga garden growing again:
• What do I hope to get out of my yoga practice?
• What are the benefits of practicing yoga?
• What obstacles stand in the way of practicing yoga and how will I overcome them?
Above all be kind to yourself. If you spend a lot of time berating yourself for not practicing, you will begin to associate yoga with being nagged at! Be kind but firm. Remember how great yoga makes you feel; why would you deprive yourself of feeling that good? Look out for new green shoots.
Small is beautiful! When you spend five minutes a day weeding your garden, you can soon clear a space for planting spring flowers, and the same is true of your yoga practice. Look for small ways to integrate yoga into your daily life. For example, every time you check your phone, take a mindful breath in and out. Or spend a few minutes each day reading a yoga book or checking out yoga videos for ideas. Commit to five minutes of practice a day and watch your home yoga practice grow and blossom!
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. However, a lack of confidence prevents many people from taking that first step and even starting yoga. Colin wants to take up yoga again. He’s decided to wait until he’s a bit fitter. He can no longer do many of the poses he used to be able to do, and he anticipates feeling embarrassed in class because he’s not very flexible. He’s also going to wait until he’s lost a bit of weight. He has been putting off re-joining his yoga class for a while now, waiting until he is good enough to join. Meanwhile, he is getting stiffer, his back aches, he gets breathless going upstairs, and he could really do with some yoga to sort him out!
The difficulty with the approach of waiting until you are perfect to join a class is that you could wait forever, as it is doing yoga that makes you more skilled and proficient at it. Like for any other activity, you must be prepared to do something “badly” before you can do it well. Mistakes are treasures and practice makes perfect. The Tao tells us, “A giant pine tree grows from a tiny sprout.” 7 Today take a step toward your goal. Maybe the first step is just to go online and find out what classes are available in your area. And then the second step might be to email or phone the teacher. And before you know it, step by step, you’ve joined a class. To begin is the victory. The spring is the perfect time to take the plunge and try something new.
This spring equinox yoga practice has been designed to encapsulate the excitement and anticipation that comes with the arrival of spring. Poses such as the Runner’s Lunge have been chosen to reflect a sense of being poised for action at the start of a race.
The magic of leaves unfurling, blossoms opening, and the world waking up after its winter sleep is reflected in the flowing sequence of Child’s Pose into Upward-Facing Dog and back again. The exuberance of spring is expressed through poses such as Downward-Facing Dog with leg lifts.
We choose the balancing pose Warrior 3 to mirror day and night being perfectly balanced at the equinox. Stabilizing poses such as Chair Pose help us stay grounded as the energy of the year revs up.
The Standing Like a Tree Exercise and the Calming Cloud Meditation will help calm any restlessness and agitation brought on by the surge of growing season energy that comes with the changing season.
This practice is designed to be used around the time of the spring equinox, but it can be used all year round. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes. It is an energizing practice that also creates a sense of balance and stability. You will find at the end of these instructions an illustrated aide-mémoire for the whole practice.
1. Standing Like a Tree
Stand tall like a tree, feet parallel and about hip width apart, knees soft, face relaxed, shoulders down away from the ears. Your tailbone feels heavy, as though it is weighted, and the crown of your head is light and floats skyward. Imagine that there are roots going down from the soles of your feet deep into the earth. Picture in your mind’s eye a tree in spring that you love or feel a connection to. (For more detailed instructions for this exercise, see page 22).
Standing Like a Tree
2. Warrior 1 Pose (Virabhadrasana 1)
Stand tall, feet hip width apart. Turn your right foot out slightly and take a big step forward with your left foot. Inhale while raising both arms above your head and bend the front knee over the ankle; exhale while lowering arms and straightening leg. Do 6 repetitions on this side, and on the final time stay for a few breaths with the arms raised. Then repeat on the other side.
Warrior 1
3a. Warrior 3 Pose (Virabhadrasana 3) variation
Before you go into either variation of this pose, silently repeat this affirmation: I create balance in my life.
Stand tall, feet hip width apart. Exhale as you tip your torso forward, at the same time raising one straight leg behind you, in line with your torso, and sweeping your arms out to the side like a bird’s wings. Inhale and return to starting position. Repeat 4 times, holding the pose for a few breaths on the final time. Repeat on the other side.
Warrior 3 variation
3b. Warrior 3 Pose (Virabhadrasana 3)
Stand tall, feet hip width apart and both arms above your head. Exhale as you tip your upper body forward, at the same time raising one straight leg behind you, in line with your torso, and keeping your raised arms in line with your ears (forming a human T-shape). Inhale and return to starting position. Repeat 4 times, holding the pose for a few breaths on the final time. Repeat on the other side.
Warrior 3
4. Chair Pose (Utkatasana)
Stand tall, feet hip width apart and both arms above your head. Bend your knees and lower your bottom, as if to sit down on a high stool. Keep the ears between the arms and do not round the upper back. Imagine that your hips are being pulled downward and everything above the waist is reaching skyward. Stay for a few breaths. Inhale and imagine that you are drawing up energy from deep down in the earth into your power center at the belly. Exhale and imagine that this energy is pooling in the belly and recharging your battery. Come out of the pose by lowering your arms and straightening your legs.
Chair Pose
5. Cat Pose (Marjaryasana) into Cow Pose (Bitilasana)
Start on all fours. Exhale and round the back up like an angry cat (Marjaryasana). Inhale into Cow Pose (Bitilasana), arching the back, lifting the chest up and away from the belly, and looking up slightly. Alternate between these two positions, rounding and arching the back. Repeat 6 times. (If you have a back problem, don’t arch the back).
Cat Pose into Cow Pose
6. Runner’s Lunge Pose (Anjaneyasana)
From Cat Pose (Marjaryasana), move one foot forward until it is between your hands. Come up onto your fingertips so that you can extend through the length of the spine. Do not round the upper back. Stay in the pose for a few breaths. As you stay in the pose, silently repeat this affirmation: Inner wisdom guides my actions. When you are ready, repeat the pose on the other side.
Runner’s Lunge Pose
7. Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) with leg lifts
From the Runner’s Lunge Pose, turn the toes of the back foot under and step the front foot back into Downward-Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana). Establish yourself comfortably in Downward-Facing Dog, and then if you wish, lift one straight leg to hip height; if that feels okay, lift the leg higher so that it is in line with the torso. Do not tilt the pelvis. Repeat on the other side. Repeat 4 times on each side.
Downward-Facing Dog with Leg Lifts
8. Child’s Pose (Balasana) into
Upward-Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana)
From Downward-Facing Dog, bend the knees and sit back into Child’s Pose (Balasana), arms outstretched along the floor. From Child’s Pose, inhale and move forward into Upward-Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana), arching your back and keeping your knees on the floor. Exhale back into Child’s Pose. Repeat 6 times. Each time you move into Upward-Facing Dog, silently repeat this affirmation: I open to new possibilities.
Child’s Pose into Upward-Facing Dog
9. Child’s Pose (Balasana) or Knees-to-Chest Pose (Apanasana)
Rest for a few breaths in either Child’s Pose or Knees-to-Chest Pose (Apanasana).
If you are short of time, finish your practice here.
Child’s Pose or Knees-to-Chest Pose
10. Calming Cloud Meditation
See instructions on page 36
Calming Cloud Meditation
Spring Equinox Yoga Practice Overview
1. Standing Like a Tree.
2. Warrior 1 × 6 on each side. On final time stay for a few breaths with arms raised.
3a. Warrior 3 variation × 4 on each side. On final time stay for a few breaths.
Affirmation: I create balance in my life.
3b. Warrior 3 × 4 on each side. On final time stay for a few breaths.
4. Chair Pose. Stay a few breaths.
5. Cat to Cow Pose × 6.
6. Runner’s Lunge Pose. Stay for a few breaths. Affirmation: Inner wisdom guides my actions.
7. Downward-Facing Dog Pose with leg lifts × 4 on each side.
8. Child’s Pose to Upward-Facing Dog × 6. Affirmation: I open to new possibilities.
9. Child’s Pose or Knees-to-Chest Pose. Rest for a few breaths. If you are short of time, finish your practice here.
10. Calming Cloud Meditation.
Exercise
You can do this meditation at any time of year, but it is particularly good in spring when there is a surge of energy with the arrival of the growing season that can leave us feeling restless and agitated. This meditation is helpful for managing persistent, unwanted thoughts or at those times when you feel pressured or overwhelmed by anxiety. It calms an overactive mind, creating a sense of balance, freedom, and spaciousness.
Allow 10 minutes.
Find yourself a comfortable position, either sitting or lying. Notice where your body is in contact with the floor or your support, and allow your body to relax down into whatever is supporting you.
Let go of unnecessary tension; relax your shoulders down away from your ears and soften your face. If any part of your body feels tight or tense, then imagine that you are breathing into it on the inhale and letting go of any tension on the exhale.
Now imagine that you are somewhere where you can see the sky. A place where you feel safe, comfortable, and at ease. Notice the clear blue sky and notice any clouds that are passing through the sky. Remember that even when clouds cover the sky, there is still blue sky behind them.
Notice any thoughts or feelings that are coming into your mind. Imagine that each thought is like a cloud in the sky. If this thought were a cloud, what would it look like? Picture its shape, size, color, and texture. Notice that some clouds are white and fluffy, while others are dark and stormy.
Be aware of when you have been carried away by your thoughts. When this happens, congratulate yourself for noticing and once again start picturing your thoughts as clouds. We are not trying to get rid of thoughts, so you don’t need to push clouds away. Simply let them drift across the sky in their own time.
Be aware of the temporary nature of clouds, how they come and go, and remember that behind the clouds there is always pure blue sky. Notice the space between one thought ending and another arising. The space between your thoughts is like the blue-sky space of pure consciousness. The spaciousness of the sky is the spaciousness of your mind, and the clouds are thoughts passing through the mind.
Now let go of picturing the sky and clouds. Bring your awareness back to your body lying or sitting here; notice where your body is in contact with the floor or your support. Become aware of your surroundings, noticing sounds inside the room and sounds outside of the room. Resolve to take this open, spacious, and accepting awareness into your everyday life and the next activity that you do today.
Tree Wisdom in Spring
The perfect way to connect with the arrival of spring is to spend some time around trees, watching new life unfold. It’s a joy to mindfully observe the signs of trees coming back to life with the appearance of catkins, leaves unfurling, and blossoms opening.
Seek out a tree and spend a few moments mindfully observing what signs of the arrival of spring you can see. Are the leaves coming into bud? Or have the leaves already reappeared on the tree? Can you see any birds or other wildlife on or around the tree? Are there any spring flowers growing around it? Use your senses to enjoy the moment: use your hands to touch the tree and enjoy the aroma of the tree, the colors, and the sounds that you can hear around you.
Exercise
Trees and Creativity during Spring
Once you have spent some mindful time around a tree, then use this as a springboard for your creativity. If you are stuck for ideas, here are some to get you going:
• Draw a bud coming into leaf, or draw any other part of the tree that interests you.
• Use colored pens, crayons, or paints to express how you feel about the tree.
• Set your timer for ten minutes and write meditatively about the tree, or write a poem or compose a song.
• If you are of an artistic bent and tend to shun science, then break this habit by finding out some info either about your tree or more generally the science behind the arrival of spring. Commit to fifteen minutes online reading up about this, read from a book in your local library, or talk to someone with a good knowledge of the subject. Once you have done this, observe whether your newfound knowledge adds to or detracts from your enjoyment of the season.
• If your chosen tree was a yoga pose, what shape would it take? Can you design a short yoga practice inspired by this tree?
Meditation upon a Willow Tree at Spring Equinox
Where I live, willow trees grow all along the banks of the river. In spring they are the first trees to come into leaf and yellow daffodils grow around them. The willow tree has taught me to listen to the wind whispering that spring is here. Below is the tree prose poem that I wrote in response to spending time meditatively around the willow.
New leaves on the willow whisper to the wind that spring is here. Moon in sky, sun on water, two white swans go sailing by. Old
bough bows down to the river, seeking willow mirrored there.
Wispy willow fronds reflected; river ripples willow hair. Blossom
on the wind is carried, wind whispers willow: spring is here.
Spring Equinox Meditation Questions
These questions are designed to be used around the time of the spring equinox. It’s fine to use them a week or two before or after the actual date of the equinox. Guidance on how to use the seasonal meditation questions can be found in Chapter One.
• Over the coming season how will I go about growing healthy and loving relationships?
• Who is most important to me and how do I want to spend time with them this spring?
• What actions do I wish to take to support them and show them how much I care?
• How can I maintain a balance between giving and receiving love in my relationships?
• Are there any relationships in my life that need to be weeded out or pruned in order to create more time and energy for the people who really matter to me (including myself!)?
• Do I wish to plant seeds to grow new relationships?
• During the growing season, whatever we unite our energy with will expand and grow. How will I make best use of the fertile energy of the coming growing season?
• Which projects do I wish to prioritize?
• What lights my fire and what am I passionate about?
• What actions will I need to take in order to ensure that the projects most dear to my heart come to fruition?
• What should I say no to in order to create the space to say yes to the things that really matter to me? (What needs to be cut back or pruned?)
• Who are my allies? Who can I enlist support from? Who shares my vision and will help me to make my dreams become a reality?
• How will I stay grounded during the busy growing season with its rampant, wild, fiery energy?
• How will I stay in touch with my inner wisdom while taking outward action?
• What will be my spiritual focus for this period?
• Night and day are perfectly balanced at the equinoxes. What steps do I need to take to restore balance to my life?
• Are there any changes I need to make in my lifestyle to restore a good work-life balance?
• How can I use my yoga practice as a way to bring balance into my life?
• How will I go about connecting with the natural world and appreciating the beauty of the season?
• What signs of new growth and green shoots have I noticed in my surroundings and in my life?
• Which seeds will I plant to bring, balance, hope, and beauty into my neighborhood and the various communities that I am a part of?
• What actions, big or small, could I take to help and support the earth and its ecosystems?
7. Stephen Mitchell, trans., Tao Te Ching: The Book of the Way (London: Kyle Cathie, 2002), Tao 64.